


Priority: Happily Ever After

by trilliath



Series: Priority: Happily Ever After [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Happily Ever After, Love, M/M, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-29
Packaged: 2017-11-06 10:33:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/417872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trilliath/pseuds/trilliath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kmeme prompt was:</p><p>Please ignore the horrificness known as "the last 10 min" and assume Shep kicked Reapers' asses, survived and everyone went back home.</p><p>Shepard and his male LI plan to get married - just a quick, private ceremony for a handful of the closest friends. Unfortunately for them the news quickly go out and they suddenly find themselves in the middle of the preparations for the biggest ceremony in the history, with half of the galaxy wanting to crash the wedding, with everyone who means anything paying their respects, buried under a mountain of presents and tokens. "But we don't have enough room for EVERY Quarian Captain!" "But what the hell are we going to do with our own planet?!" "But why can't we marry the way we want?! ;_;"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Priority Mission

**Author's Note:**

> This is definitely set in the “la-la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you,” denial land in my brain where the relays are fine, the reapers are gone, the geth and EDI are a-ok, and Earth isn’t an irreparably melted hulk.
> 
> Since I've been working on the prequel to this I recently made a few updates, mostly fixing typos, separating it into chapters, and altering a few lines (for the better I hope).

"Shepard, I'm afraid we have a bit of a situation," Admiral Anderson said by way of greeting as the door to Shepard's cabin slid open. 

Liara was beside him with a small stack of datapads, looking chagrinned.

John stepped back from the door, waving them into his quarters. The Normandy sounded extremely strange without the hum of the mass effect field, and he'd been playing music to make up for it. He hit the off button and took a seat on one of the couches.

"Hit me," he said.

"I'm afraid news of your and the Major's impending nuptials has gotten out," Anderson said, taking the chair across from him with a sigh.

"How _out_ are we talking?" John asked with a frown, looking to the Shadow Broker for an index of the badness of the information leakage.

Liara cringed and just handed him a datapad.

That was not a good sign. 

He pressed play and sat back to watch.

"The most exciting gossip of the century," Diana Allers's face said, pressed far too close to her vidbot.   
She glanced over her shoulder, training the bot over onto an image of him and Kaidan, standing together in the kitchen, making breakfast together.   
It looked like she was spying through the window of the medbay.

John groaned as he saw himself stick his finger in the whipped cream and smear it over Kaidan's face. They had been arguing playfully about what kind of cake to get for the wedding. He _thought_ they had been alone.

"Commander John Shepard, and long-time team-mate Major Kaidan Alenko are getting married! This week!" she cried, giggling as John leaned forward to kiss the cream off his lover's lips.

"You saw it here first on Battle-Spac-," 

John interrupted her by hitting the next button.

Next is a personal correspondence style vid featuring the face of one person. At the bottom it says Alliance Command. On it is a woman he doesn't recognize, though she has the tough features of a soldier, and he can see the collar of an alliance uniform at the bottom of the video message.   
"Admiral, we're getting a sharp increase in relay traffic into the system in the last eight hours. They're all listing _"the wedding"_ as their reason for arrival," she says, looking perplexed. 

"We're doing the best we can, but with Mars' starports offline, we're running out of places to put them all. I've put in a call to supply about the logistics of rations, but unless the Quarians start showing up, we're going to be in serious hurt for dextro-foodstuffs." 

She paused, narrowing her eyes at a console off-screen. Then her eyes widened. "Ah, well, strike that about food. Quarian fleet just pinged the relay. Oh boy. Uh, Goodling out, sir."

_Next_

"Looters in major cities have taken up a charming new goal in their searches," a young reporter says, panning the camera over a group of humans picking through the rubble of a store that is not one that would contain any sort of foodstuffs or survival supplies.   
It was a gift shop. 

"They are looking for gifts, citing the impending marriage of Spectres Commander John Shepard, and Major Kaidan Alenko as their new target."

He moves over to a man waiting with a smudged crystal punchbowl in his hands. John can only stare in horror as the reporter does his stand. 

"I just wanna give the guys who saved us somethin' nice, you know?" 

There is more, but he's seen enough. He hits the pause button roughly, letting the datapad clatter to the table.

"EDI!" John called, far louder than is necessary.

"Yes commander?"

"Tell Diana Allers I need a word with her," he growled - then paused. "No. Belay that. Tell her she has one hour to get her ass off my ship."

"Understood commander." 

"Please _enforce_ that deadline," he added sweetly. 

"Affirmative."

Liara looked like she was trying to keep a smirk off her face, but not very hard. Anderson merely pursed his lips, a master of droll stoicism.  
"Hackett and I have been discussing the situation, along with Dr. T'Soni."

John just groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"We've agreed that we need to take this event seriously. I put some N7s on it, and we've made some good progress. Here are the mission details for Priority: Happily Ever After," he said, grinning as he handed Shepard another datapad.

Shepard started to scan over the mission details, then frowned, noticing the location.  
"It says London. Kaidan's from Vancouver. We're going to get married in Vancouver," he said, glancing between them.

"So, here's the bottom line," Liara began, looking hesitant.

"Shepard, it's just not possible to get security ready in time to do it in Vancouver," Anderson said, leaning back with a sympathetic frown. 

"Security?" He sighed, tossing the data-pad onto the table.

"That was just the first report on the relay traffic. It's actually gotten a lot worse since yesterday. And there are already people piling gifts up outside the base, asking to see you, to send you messages," Anderson said, trying not to grin at Shepard's dismay when he hit the datapad again moving it to the next image, which was a recording of the security footage at the front gate of the London spaceport where they were docked.   
The pile of gifts next to the gate was nearly as tall as the walls on which it leaned.

Liara showed him another datapad. "Samantha's been working with EDI and I screening your messages ever since the reapers were defeated, but she tells me she's gotten two million congratulation and gift waves already."

John stared at her, incredulous. She sent him a sympathetic grimace.

"I just wanted it to be where he would have wanted it," he muttered.

Liara smiled gently at him. "If you give me more time...," though she already knew his answer.

"No, I made a promise to him that we'd get married the week after we stopped the reapers," he said, thinking back fondly to that moment. To the look in Kaidan's caramel eyes. To the way they'd dived into bed like their lives depended on it.

She nodded. "I know. And London is the only place with enough soldiers and fortifications to manage the guest list."

He smiled wryly at her. Of course she would know. And of course he had to trust her certainly well-researched conclusion. "Right. And so London it is." 

"Now, about the Hanar," she began.

 

He groaned and covered his face with his hands.


	2. Tactics

Shepard didn't have backup when he had to break the news to Kaidan.  
So he prepared for it like any mission; with overkill. He went armed with wine, chocolate, and information and answers to all potential arguments. 

"But-,"

"These are the people we _want_ invited," John said, setting the datapad to auto-scroll down the enormous list.

"These are the people who have invited themselves and we can't stop," he added, placing a second datapad on the table, also rapidly running down an unending list of names.

"Damnit, John, I just want to marry _you_ ," Kaidan replied, ignoring the lists.

"Yeah, and if _anyone_ so much as _hints_ that we're going to snag the crew and go elope somewhere, we'll have Allers' army of vidbots and subsequent flashmob wreaking havoc with the whole thing and probably set off another war. And you _know_ Tali will never be able to keep it secret."

"I know. You're right," Kaidan capitulated, tugging the remaining pads out of John's hands and sliding in close to wrap his arms around him.

John sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "No, you are. But this is just what it's going to take."

Kaidan leaned his jaw against Shepard's shoulder. John tipped his head so his temple touched Kaidan's forehead, then absently reached for a bit of chocolate to lift to Kaidan's lips.

"Bribery," he accused with a low teasing lilt to his voice. But he took the offering, the skin around his eyes crinkling in a way that had John mesmerized. 

"Hmm," he replied, brushing his thumb along Kaidan's lower lip. "Tactics."

"So… EDI really threw Diana off the ship naked?" Kaidan asked, laughing.

"Ask Joker for the footage. You know he has it."

"Thanks but no thanks," he said with a low chuckle. 

John picked up his glass of wine, handing the other to Kaidan before taking a healthy swallow. 

"It's going to be great," Kaidan added, reassuring _him_ , now that he'd had a moment to adjust to things.  
Kaidan kissed him gently, then reached towards the stack of tablets with a mischievous grin. 

"Let's look at the list of who's _not_ invited again."

John laughed, stroking fingers through Kaidan's hair as he settled against his chest.

"Han Gerrel?" John began.

"Check"

"Dalatrass Lintron?"

"Check"

"Udina?"

"Uh, _dead_."

"Yeah, but put him on there anyway."


	3. And an interesting choice of courrier

The official announcement had only been out a day.   
Despite that fact, the skies were actually growing shadowed in places with the thick presence of alien ships in orbit. The Hanar had taken to the streets of London, shaking makeshift instruments that looked like tambourines as they spread the word of the _glorious hand of the enkindlers_ ' coming wedding to everyone they could find. They floated down the Thames in groups, singing in their resonant voices.  
Gifts were delivered by military truckload. Much to John and Kaidan's humiliation, many Alliance soldiers stopped work on reconstruction efforts to help manage the influx and pull extra security on the city.

Though much of Buckingham palace was in ruins, there was at least one wing intact, and the gardens were more or less unscathed - or at least the holes were more easily filled-in due to lack of significant rubble. Virtually everyone had agreed that the wedding ought to take place there. Some were happy to be utilizing the palace's security for those concerned with such matters, and the grandeur and aesthetics were pleasing enough for the rest. Everyone was satisfied.

 _Nearly_ everyone. John and Kaidan were rather embarrassed by the fact. Both had wanted to wear their uniforms and do it on the London spaceport base. Everyone else had put their foot down, insisting on the best of civilian wear and the public setting. A spectacle, a celebration. 

 

Two days later, one week from the defeat of the reapers, it was time.   
The palace was ready, more or less, and the crowds were gathering. The attendees had all been gathered inside the gates, and onlookers clustered in for miles in every direction, huddled around omni-tools for those who couldn't get line of sight, watching the video feeds of the celebration.

It wasn't even their third choice. But, John had to admit, as he made his way through the towering halls of the palace, past exquisite art and beautiful textiles and perfect craftsmanship in wood and stone, as he listened to the roar of music and crowds echoing over the city, that it was a more than memorable experience. 

He had escaped Sam's fussing by sending her to go check in with the wedding planner (not that he told her he'd already sent the wedding planner to go surreptitiously check to make sure Joker was being taken care of). 

Point was, he could now complete his own mission.  
"Hey," he said, popping open the door to a converted drawing room and slipping inside. The mahogany wood felt so real, so Earth-like under his fingers he was amused for a moment as he shut it.

"Hey - oh _come on_ John," Kaidan exclaimed when he saw him in the mirror, quickly looking away on reflex.

"What?" he asked, coming over to rest broad scarred hands on Kaidan's bare shoulders. He only had one arm of his shirt on, and the warmth of their skin between them sent a pleased feeling through his chest. 

"That's bad luck," Kaidan replied, pinning him with an admonishing look in their reflection. 

John leaned back and rolled his eyes.  
"You're not _really_ going to make me go into the historical anthropology of why that's complete bullshit, are you?"

Liara darted a glance between them, "Actually, I _did_ have some-,"

"No," Kaidan interrupted, sending a smile at her to keep the sting from his words.

"Besides," John interjected, "you've got plenty of luck right here; Liara is both blue and old!" he teased.

Liara rolled her eyes, "I am hardly more than a hundred, Shepard."

Kaidan couldn't resist a laugh and grin at the old joke, and reached out to poke John's tuxedo-covered belly.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"I just… needed to see you," John said.

Kaidan felt a flicker of concern, but looked carefully up at John's eyes and relaxed. 

It was just exactly why they were getting married, why they were going to always be there forever - the amazing fact that the freaking savior of the galaxy turned to _him_ for reassurance. Oh, Kaidan didn't think he'd often - or perhaps even ever, changed Shepard's mind. But he knew his words mattered to John.

"Yeah," he said, standing up and turning to face him. "Well, I'm here, John. For good." 

And then John relaxed too, letting their eyes say more than the words ever could as they gazed at each other.  
John kissed him gently, then nuzzled his neck, letting his hand slide down Kaidan's muscled arm under the fabric of the sleeve. He grabbed the half-donned shirt and tossed it somewhere over his shoulder.

"I think I'll just…," Liara said, drifting away towards the door. She was stopped abruptly when that door blew open.

"Excuse me, excuse me, sorry," the wedding planner said, rushing into the room and slamming the door behind her. Shouts could be heard echoing down the hall as she leaned back against the door, her face flushed.

"Sirs, we have a… a _krogan_ , who says he knows you. He doesn't have an invitation and he's being rather insistent that he see you now," She said, looking more that a little nervous as she glanced between them. A loud crash of shattering glass sounded outside the door. "We'd turn him away, but he's making that… difficult. Perhaps-," 

"Sure, don't worry about it," John interjected, letting go of Kaidan and moving towards the door.

"John-," Kaidan said, voice low and warning.

He just grinned back at him, striding away and opening the door.

"John, that's a tuxedo, not a suit of armor!" Kaidan shouted after him.

In response, Shepard turned and looked back at him as he walked away backwards. He flicked his hands to his sides and there was the low pop-thrumm of biotics as he brought up a barrier around himself. He blew a kiss with a cheeky grin as he disappeared around the corner.

"Showoff," Kaidan growled fondly as he stood, looking around, the glow of biotics starting to hiss into life around his skin as well. "Liara, where is my damn shirt?"

"On another matter," the planner began hesitantly, "there's been another truckload of gifts, and I'm afraid that because they're from the Hanar, we can't just-,"

Kaidan pressed his fingertips to his temples, as though to ward off the incoming headache.

Proving her title of "Best," Liara grabbed the woman by the elbow and firmly dragged her out of the room. 

"I am sure you can find a solution," she said pleasantly, and slammed the door in her face.


	4. A Map of the Galaxy

John and Kaidan exit the palace together, walking hand in hand down the torn path to the outskirts of the wedding. There is a strange hush over the city, as though everyone is waiting with bated breath. It seems impossible given the scale, but even the Hanar in the palace fountains manage to be quiet.

They look onward to their priority mission target.

For once, the vast scale of the wedding attendees is a relief.   
Out of necessity, for them to pass by enough people to keep the guests happy, the route is not a traditional straight-forward one.

The way the center dais has been raised and is lit with bright lights of the many vidbots is an uncomfortable reminder of all the headlong charges into glowing beams of light that had nearly taken them from each other a number of times in the past several years. 

Instead of a direct charge, the design is like that of the spiral galaxy in which they reside, chairs arranged in swirling arcs out from the raised platform on which the ceremony would take place. The path in to the center is a long curved spiral that passes through all the chairs. Someone had indeed gone to great lengths to make this happen. Probably Traynor's doing, John thought, considering the elegance of the solution, as well as the similarity to coordinating data on the galaxy-map.

Liara is waiting for them at the start, blue eyes bright with stifled tears.

She lifts a graceful hand to touch each of their cheeks, then turns, directing them to begin the long walk.

It is going to take a while, but they will walk it together, and that is somehow all the more powerful. Walking through the galaxy together, passing by the different species whose lives they had saved together. It is a sea of color, with little patterns here and there, faces they recognize. 

They realize that the sweeping arcs are organized more or less by galactic regions, populated with the species who inhabit them. The patterns of the turians and their iridescent skins and shining armor is blinding in the bright sunlight nearest their entrance. They stand with near perfect unison, falling into perfect military salutes. They recognize the various commanders and generals they have met over the years. Oraka is there with Corinthus, looking proud. Lorik Q'in is beside him, looking a little embarrassed. 

Garrus is waiting along the path just a little ways in, next to Sparatus and Primarch Victus. He stands, grinning at them as he steps forward. His mandibles flare as though he wants to say something, but doesn't have the words. He just shakes his head, touching them both gently on the shoulders before he falls in beside Liara, following their lead.

Samara is waiting with her characteristic proud posture amid a sea of blues and purples. There is something unusually like warmth in her eyes for a brief moment as she bows her head to them, glowing with biotics. The glow is reflected momentarily through all the asari attendees. Councilor Tevos, Atheyta, Shiala, and more are spread through the audience, smiling at them. She joins the procession.

Grunt and Wrex are next, and there is an empty seat between them. It has a card with the name "Mordin" written on it. Kaidan grips John's hand hard in support as they pause there. The two krogan rise. Grunt grips them both by the shoulders, knocking them together, laughing with his characteristic enthusiasm. He looks down at Shepard's suit, looking puzzled.

"It's here," John says, patting under his arm where the fabric is stretched a little tighter than usual. Grunt had been the cause of the earlier ruckuss, insisting that he needed to bring the "something new" to Shepard, due to learning about the very important strange human customs. When the krogan looks over, Kaidan grins and pats his matching bulge. A super-compact pistol of the highest black-market quality. A gift from the expectably-absent Aria, delivered via Krogan to ensure it would make it past the giant gift-piles.

Wrex, with far more dignity (he _had_ managed to remember his invitation after all, unlike the younger krogan), clasps their hands one at a time, though it is clear by the way he pauses that he is considering headbutting John for old time's sake. He grins, and settles for his usual, "Shepard," waiting for the responding, "Wrex," before falling in behind the others. Eve is not present, as she was ensconced on Tuchanka, but she had sent a message prior with her well-wishes. The handful of krogan who are well-behaved enough to attend let out a roar of appreciation as they pass. Kirrahe was there beside them, with a handful of STG members and councilor Valern.

They pass the mishmash of people that represent the various terminus systems, seeing people who didn't quite fit in anywhere else. Barla Von is there, looking pleased, somehow, for a Volus. Kolyat is sitting with Thane's prayer book in hand, Feron beside him. 

Tali can't wait her turn and comes towards them, nearly bouncing on her toes. She envelopes them each in a tight hug. When they pass by her seat again, she fetches the battered bit of grey armor on which a faint N7 mark can be seen. She shows it to them, and John places a hand on the scarred polymer. Then she drifts back, carrying it with her as she joins their party.

The quarians are there in force, headed by Admiral Shala'Raan and Kal'Reegar. They all execute a gracefully complex bow as John and Kaidan pass, touching their faces in an implied promise of their near future when Shepard and crew would be able to go to Rannoch and see them all. One geth prime there beside Admiral Raan performs a bow as well.

Then only the home cluster is between them and the dais, and it is the most poignant of them all. There are no politicians or dignitaries - of that they had been in firm agreement. But there are people, important people. Admiral Hackett. Kaylee Sanders. Commander Baily. Kelly Chambers, Toombs, Samesh, so many more. Too many to count. Even Dr. Verner is there, crying his little eyes out on Jenna's shoulder.

Then come a batch of N7s, who rise, snapping to attention, regardless of the varying states of injury and scarring they all bear.

"Hoo-Rah," John calls.

"Hoo-Rah!" they cry.

James steps forward from the soldiers in perfect march step and left turn. Standing at attention he pauses, then offers them both a salute, given with such precision and honor like they had never seen from the insubordinate lieutenant. They return it, and James cracks a grin at them both. The marine falls in behind them.

Others aren't there, as expected. Zaeed had muttered something about not needing to throw a party to make official something everyone in the goram universe already knew about, though he had patted Shepard on the shoulder with a hint of a smile before leaving earlier in the week.

Kasumi is nowhere to be seen, but Shepard is absolutely certain she was nearby. He laughs when Kaidan makes a small surprised sound, lifting his hand up. In his palm is a perfect white rose, snagged off of Kelly's hair arrangement. Kaidan laughs too when he realizes what has happened, and he tucks the rose into his lapel.

_something borrowed_

Jack had refused her invitation, citing the fact that they were so sickeningly sweet together that she might just cry, and then she'd just have to kill everyone who saw, and that wouldn't be setting a good example for her kids (most of whom were sitting in the back of the human section with Kaidan's students, popping little balls of biotics back and forth over the crowd).

Finally, they reach the last group of people, and it is all they can do to avoid breaking into tears. Nearly the entire crew of the Normandy is there, ringing the center dais, looking fit to burst with pride and joy. Adams and Chakwas, Ken and Gabby, Miranda, EDI and Joker, Sam, everyone is there, with the surprising exception of Steve.   
There are empty chairs there too, many empty chairs with names on them, from Ashley Williams to Jacob Taylor. They both feel each and every member of the crew with them as they take their final steps onto the dais. 

Anderson is waiting for them, sharp as ever in his dress blues, face stern as he fights back the moisture in his eyes.

The ceremony is simple, despite the scale.   
They look into each others eyes, they make promises that they bind to the very fiber of their souls.   
They place their symbols on each other.   
Anderson pronounces them wed.   
They share a kiss in a silence that is palpable. 

And then everything is noise and laughter and hugging. Turian and Alliance fighter squadrons make airshow stunt displays above them. Quarian-rigged pyrotechnics explode around the park, blasting confetti and stringers. Biotic explosions erupt into the sky overhead in cascades of electric blue and purple light.   
On reflex, half the audience is up in arms at the sounds of explosions, but after a moment's surprise the newly-weds let their biotic barriers fade into laughter and their new pistols are re-holstered. 

They are picked up in the arms of the galaxy and swept bodily to the reception.

 

The party is insane. The N7s commandeer all of Hyde Park as a landing zone for all the booze they had been reconnoitering and were able to smuggle in.   
They dance together, grinning like idiots.   
They listen to speech after speech from their dearest friends.   
They get Tali to introduce Kal'Reegar to the emergency induction port.   
At one point, the krogans sing a battle song dedicated to the crew of the Normandy, rousing the whole city into a roaring cheering mob.  
Music and dancing and food are spread out everywhere in the city. It is not just a celebration of their wedding, but of life, of the galaxy, of love and meaning.

By the time the sun sets, they are all exhausted, drunk, and thoroughly happy.   
Fortunately for them, EDI is the consummate DD and gets them home safely, despite three separate kidnapping attempts.  
As they ride back to the Normandy, they sit, curled in each other's arms, drowning in happiness.

It was nothing they had asked for.

 

It was absolutely perfect.


	5. Gifts Given

They were still sorting through the cards three weeks later, despite all the help from EDI and Sam getting them organized into people they actually knew versus those who were just getting a standard thank you note.

"What the hell are we going to do with our own planet?" Kaidan muttered, handing the card to John with a laugh. They were both lounging in a cabin in the woods near Vancouver. It was somehow completely untouched by the war, probably due to its remote location. A fire crackled in the fireplace. They were naked, as they had been most of the week, tangled together on the couch.

"Huh," John said, pondering. "Give it to the Krogan?"

"I think it's probably bad form to re-gift a _planet_ , John," Kaidan replied with a grin.  
John smirked back at him. He resumed their task, opening another card that simply had "Shepard" written on it. 

"Oh shit-," John said, jerking up from his reclined position, knocking a pile of cards aside that Kaidan had been trying to keep organized. It landed them precariously close to the fireplace.

"What?" Kaidan asked, pen hovering over the thank you he had been drafting.

Sliding Kaidan's head off his lap he swung to his feet. "Oh hell. Damn, goddamn, shit!" he added, staring at the card and freezing like he had too many directions to go at once.

" _What_?" Kaidan demanded, setting aside his own pile of cards and sitting up sharply from where he was reclining on the couch.

John merely shoved the card into Kaidan's hand as he came to a decision about which direction to turn and headed straight for the closet containing all their combat gear.

 _That_ had anxiety levels shooting up and Kaidan quickly read the card.

_Congratulations you fuckers.  
So, couldn't think of what to get you earlier, because, fuck. What do you get?  
Then I remembered how much of a shithead you were always asking to be my friend  
and what my tattoos meant and blah blah blah.  
So to thank you for that shit and in congratulation, I've decided to do a little…  
Vandalism.  
In your name._

_Jack_

"What? What is it? Why are you upset over vandalism?" Kaidan demanded, flummoxed as he followed John to where he was already slipping into his bodysuit and pulling out his armor.

"Kaidan," he said, turning to look at his husband. "I _really_ like our moon."


End file.
